Doctorate in Clinical Dentistry - 3 year courses

Programme Aims

Upon completion of this programme, students will demonstrate:

• A systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge and a critical awareness of the issues that determine successful clinical outcomes, informed by the forefront of knowledge in restorative dentistry.
• The ability to create and interpret new knowledge through advanced scholarship, to a level that will satisfy peer review.
• The abilty to conceptualise, design and implement a research project that will increase our understanding at the forefront of the discipline.
• Their personal responsibility for independent learning, autonomous decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations resulting in sound judgements, planning and implementing tasks at a professional level and being able to communicate clearly and professionally to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• The knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes to enable independent practice of the specialty, at the standard of a Specialist.

Why Sheffield?

• This is a unique course, at a Clinical Doctorate level, in each of the three sub-specialties of restorative dentistry: Endodontics, Periodontics and Prosthodontics.
• The University of Sheffield, Doctorate of Clinical Dentistry, is suitable for UK, European and overseas applicants.
• The DClinDent is suited to all dentists that wish to pursue specialist training in one of the restorative monospecialties and wish to prepare for the Specialty Membership Examinations in Endodontics, Periodontology and Prosthodontics of The Faculty of Dental Surgery of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
• Candidates have the opportunity to acquire an in-depth knowledge and a critical awareness of the issues that determine successful outcomes, informed by the forefront of knowledge in restorative dentistry; in accordance with the requirements of the UK’s GDC Specialist Curricula.
• You will gain a comprehensive range of additional key skills that are indispensable to a specialist: Development of critical thinking; mental visualisation; specialist knowledge; technical and manual dexterity; and communication, inter-personal, investigative and management skills.
• We will foster your ability for autonomous decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations resulting in sound judgements, planning and implementing tasks at a professional level. You will learn how to communicate clearly and professionally to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Doctorate students will have the unique opportunity to develop their progression of skills in a multi-disciplinary environment with distinct and carefully mapped opportunities to interact and work alongside colleagues in the other two restorative disciplines and with other hospital trainees.
• Your learning will progress through the three years, from competency to proficiency in a systematic manner with a range of assessments with a distinct focus on tutor-led group and personal feedback and reflection.
• The School of Clinical Dentistry at Sheffield is ideally placed to help you develop your investigative scientific skills. We have been confirmed as one of the top departments in the UK for dental research in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
• You will learn how to answer a research question through a systematic programme of scientific investigation to culminate in a Doctoral Thesis and a manuscript for a peer-reviewed international research journal.

Course Outline

The Doctorate of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent) Restorative Dentistry course is aimed at dental surgeons holding a primary dental degree with at least two years' experience in hospital or general dental practice.

This course will be based primarily in the Academic Unit of Restorative Dentistry of The School of Clinical Dentistry with clinical activities in the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital, which is part of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Year One

Year one will focus on providing a sound postgraduate foundation in the endodontic, periodontal and prosthodontic treatment. This will be delivered in different modules with use of the clinical skills facilities, tutorials and attending specialist-led treatment planning clinics with the course tutors. During this first year, the student will undertake the literature review component of the research project.

Years Two and Three

The second and third years are specific to the specialism with a large component of direct treatment of patients. There is a distinct cross-over between the three disciplines with provision for joint care of complex patient pathways. The experimental component of the research project will be conducted during the second year and completed with a thesis of publication standard in the third year.

Teaching Methods

Lectures

Lectures will be used to deliver core knowledge, to provide an overview of the subject and to guide students in their independent study. Attendance at journal clubs and research presentations within the department will further enhance the student’s breadth of knowledge and how this impacts on their specialty.

Seminars

Seminars will be based on students’ independent study and will be used to enhance their understanding of specific areas. Student-led critical appraisals of the literature will enable the student to appraise systematically current evidence in the discipline. Preparation and delivery of evidence-based presentations will enable the student to sustain a critical argument in writing and through oral presentations.

Tutorials

Tutorials will be delivered by clinical experts, project supervisors and other experts, such as statisticians, in order to enhance the student’s understanding, give guidance and act as a forum to discuss topics in a group environment.

Problem Solving

Clinical case-based discussions: Students will present clinical cases in which they have had a significant involvement in the development of a treatment strategy and/or managed/executed the restorative treatment care of the patient. They will document the cases, in accordance with specific guidelines and templates, present this to peers and staff and be able to discuss and defend the case in a comprehensive manner. Peer-review of clinical practical work will enhance the student’s ability to critically appraise their own performance.

Clinical Skills Lab

Laboratory sessions (Clinical skills and Technology laboratory) will be a key component of learning and teaching to meet specific objectives. These sessions will consist of an initial tutor-led demonstration followed by student self-directed practical work. Further tutor-led supervision and feedback will be provided at intervals during the particular sub-course.

Supervised Clinical Activity

Supervised clinical activity will be undertaken on consultant-led new patient referral clinics. These will take place on a weekly basis and, at different times throughout the year and throughout the course, will rotate between the different restorative specialties.

Students will undertake the comprehensive clinical management of patients within their chosen specialty and, as appropriate, interfacing with the other two specialties. Students will be provided with an appropriate number of patients requiring a range of treatments using a wide variety of techniques, which would give the student an appropriate exposure to a wide case mix and range of clinical experiences.

Teaching will be provided on a one-to-one basis with a clinical supervisor for each session and informal feedback will be provided on the clinic. Students will undertake aspects of clinical care with decreasing levels of supervision as the student attains competency.

Professional communication: Students will learn how to communicate at an appropriate level with colleagues, patients and other professionals. They will learn how to write reports, referral letters and undertake associated patient administration duties.

Independent study

Independent study will enable the students to undertake further private study related to the subject matter and will also include pre-course reading, preparation of seminars and self-directed practical work in the clinical skills and technology laboratories.

Log books

Reflective feedback of all course work (practical and theoretical) and formative feedback on professionalism are designed to enhance the student’s learning experience.

Research Project

Independent study will form a large part of these modules and will consist of literature searching, critical evaluation of the literature, writing the research proposal, experimental work and data collection. This spans all three years of the programme, with a phased activity. Year one will be the period during which a student identifies a research area and selects a potential research project (with suitable guidance). During this year they will research the relevant literature and formulate a pertinent research question, culminating in a hypotheses and aims and objectives. The literature review will be assessed at the end of the first year.

During the second year the students undertake a module which is aimed at introducing the students to research methods in dentistry. This will help them develop a research protocol, which forms part of the assessment in this module, which occurs at the end of the first semester of the second year. A further module takes place during the second year and this is entitled ‘experimental work-data collection’. This unit aims to develop the student’s general ability in the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research demonstrating a detailed understanding of applicable techniques of research methods including undertaking experiments and data collection, and the ability to adjust the project in the light of unforeseen problems. This will be examined at the end of the second semester of the second year, by submission of the materials and methods and an oral presentation giving an update of the project progress.

The third year will include the write up of the project, which will be assessed at the end of the third year. This unit aims to develop the student’s general ability in the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research by demonstrating a detailed analytical understanding of the investigations undertaken and the interpretation of data. This should lead to the construction and exposition of knowledge that has been acquired, and that will extend knowledge at the forefront of the discipline and be of a quality that will satisfy peer review and merit publication.

Provision for acquisition of information literacy skills have been planned with the Faculty Librarian for Medicine. Induction to library resources to support their research project will be done through an on-line induction programme delivered via the University’s learning portal.

Supervisors will provide appropriate training and monitoring in the early stages. Tutorial meetings will be arranged with project supervisors to discuss progress and give guidance. Where appropriate other experts, such as statisticians, will be consulted to enhance data handling facilitating subsequent analysis. Ad hoc tutorials may be arranged with these experts. Writing up the research as a final project report and as a paper for submission to a scientific journal will be mentored by the project supervisor.

Audit/Governance

The students will be expected to attend and contribute to the departmental journal clubs. They will also be required to attend departmental audit meetings and annual updates on dealing with medical emergencies, clinical governance and waste management provided by the STH NHS Trust. They will undertake an audit project.

Assessment

Formative assessments

Monitoring of student progress is by a process of continuous assessment. Procedures in the clinical skills lab and the clinical area will be graded and recorded in the students logbook. Students are encouraged to self assess and feedback will be given on these procedures. In the first year the students undertake modules which involve training in the major restorative techniques. This period provides a benchmark of the student’s existing abilities and identifies areas of knowledge or skill which might require particular attention. Subject to satisfactory performance students will be allowed to begin patient treatment.

This is largely achieved through attaining competency in the restorative procedures and will be assessed by a range of techniques including directly observed clinical procedures (DOPs) and Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercises (MiniCex) as per the requirements of the General Dental Council Guidelines in the Monospecialty curricula.

Summative assessments

These will be undertaken at the end of each module and will include the following components:

• Written examination papers in the form of structured short answer questions
• Annotated bibliographies which will be presented in the written form, with selected aspects being presented orally.
• Oral and written presentation of research and audit project work undertaken by the student.
• Clinical examinations will be based on oral and written presentation of cases treated by the student, and an ability to diagnose and treatment plan cases not seen previously by the student.

Entry Requirements

To be eligible for consideration applicants must fulfill the following conditions:

• Hold a University accredited degree in Dental Surgery that permits the holder to undertake the practice of dentistry
• A minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience is required in any sphere of restorative dentistry, including general dental practice.
• Students whose first language isn't English require IELTS 7 with a minimum score of 6 in each component.

The application should be filled in online with all the following supporting documents uploaded. 

• Degree certificate (including translation)
• University transcript (including translation)
• 2 up to date references,
• CV 
• personal statement
• English language certificate

The personal statement should give an honest appraisal of the following:

• Your past learning & training experience of restorative dentistry (both at undergraduate and post-graduate stages).
• Highlighting exposure to and personal experience of different aspects of restorative dentistry.
• Highlight experiences from any other fields you may feel are relevant, particularly teaching or research.
• Your current employment - please give an indication of the range of procedures you do and how frequently you undertake them. Be clear as to your involvement in the overall care of the patients you treat. Indicating procedures you have observed others undertaking is also useful.
• Why do you wish to undertake this degree? How will this degree help you in your future career?
• What personal attributes do you have which mean we should select you?

How we will consider your application

Application Deadline for 2014 entry: Thursday 28th November 2013

Only applications with all required supporting documentation uploaded by the deadline will be considered. The supporting documents you need to submit with your application are detailed in the ‘Entry Requirements’ section.

Conditional offers cannot be made for those candidates that do not upload all required supporting documentation and who do not meet the minimum requirements for the course. The School does not make conditional offers on the submission of supporting documents.

In the event that someone has withdrawn from the course and there are no reserve applications available a new selection process will take place and applications submitted after the deadline will be considered as part of this process.

Applying for the DClinDent is a two stage process

Stage 1: Selection Committee - December 2013

Applications at this stage will be considered by staff who will create a short list of applicants to be invited for interview.
After this initial decision-making process, the outcome will be to either attend for an interview or reject.
The shortlist decision date: candidates will be contacted in December/early January

Stage 2: Interviews

All shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview at the School of Clinical Dentistry, The University of Sheffield.

Interviews will take place at The School of Clinical Dentistry in January 2014. We anticipate they will be scheduled week commencing 6th January 2014.

Applicants should make sure that they are available for interview in person during these times prior to submitting their application.

In exceptional circumstances, the interview may be undertaken by video conferencing using Skype.

Final decisions will be communicated to interviewed applicants by the end of March 2013 unless otherwise informed.

Following the interview the decision will be one of the following:

• A place to study will be offered
• You will be rejected
• You will be offered to go on a reserve list.

Fee Deposit

If you are offered a place to study you will be required to pay a deposit of up to £5,000 (Five thousand pounds sterling) to confirm your place on the course. Candidates unable to pay the fee deposit by the deadline may lose their place.

APPLY HERE

Health Clearance and Disclosure and Barring Service

Health clearance

Courses that involve exposure to human blood or other body fluids and tissues, require students to conform to the national guidelines for the protection of patients, health care workers and students. Before admission to a clinical course you will need to achieve a satisfactory level of Hepatitis B immunity. You’ll be tested for Hepatitis C and HIV when you start. If you are found to be Hepatitis C antibody positive or an infectious carrier of HIV, then you won’t be able to continue. If you have serious health problems, or know that you are infected with Hepatitis B, C or HIV, youmust tell us on your application form. We assess all potential students with significant health problems. Our immunisation requirements are constantly being reviewed to ensure we meet with current Department of Health guidance. You need to comply with these if you are offered a place. You’ll get more information when you apply, but if you have any questions on health clearance issues, please get in touch.

Disclosure and Barring Service

You will need a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Enhanced Disclosure. If you do have any criminal convictions or cautions (including verbal cautions) and bind-over orders, please tell us about them on your application form. If you have not lived in the UK in the preceding five years before you commence our programme, you will need to provide us with a Certificate of Good Standing from the police authority in your home country. You’ll get more information on the DBS and the Certificate of Good Standing when you apply.

Local NHS policies and procedures

You will be undertaking clinical training in the local NHS Foundation Trust’s Dental Hospital. You must comply with their policies and procedures, which include the Department of Health policy on being ‘bare below the elbow’. If you need any clarification on these policies and procedures before you apply, please see our website.